ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The third-ranked Ohio State men’s gymnastics team placed fourth at Big Ten Championships as senior Sean Melton won his third-consecutive all-around title Friday night at Crisler Center. Melton, who won the all-around titles the previous two years, took the all-around at 84.450, just ahead of fellow Buckeye Alec Yoder at 84.300.
“It was a rough start for us on the first three events,” Rustam Sharipov, Ohio State head coach, said. “We picked it up and felt like ourselves. We’re disappointed in our performance as a team but it’s great for us to have the top two all-arounders. I’m proud of the new guys, the freshman stepped up, but we have to improve for the NCAA Championships. We cannot struggle early and try to come back at the end.”
Illinois won the meet with a 413.900 followed by Michigan at 408.600, Penn State at 406.350 and the Buckeyes at 405.600.
Ohio State opened the meet on high bar before moving to floor in the second rotation, with Melton posting team high scores of 13.750 and 14.100, respectively on the events. After a bye in the third rotation, the Buckeyes moved to pommel horse in the fourth rotation and were paced by a 14.650 from Yoder, who finished second in the event.
In the fifth rotation, Ohio State notched a 67.250 on rings, led by Melton’s 14.750. In the sixth rotation, Sean Junior Neighbarger paced the Buckeyes with a 14.700 as Ohio State notched a season-best 71.600 on vault. Ohio State then concluded the meet with a 68.950 on parallel bars as Melton again led the Buckeyes with a 14.300.
Individual finals begin at 7 p.m. Saturday live on BTN.
